I remember reading arguments against using VPNs with services that already know who you are such as Instagram and Snapchat. However, I have a counter argument for this and want to know people’s opinions on it. An IP address is a universal data point that is not tied to a specific service unlike yo…

[image] anon94009837: I remember reading arguments against using VPNs with services that already know who you are such as Instagram and Snapchat. If you remember, would you paraphrase the reasoning of the people recommending against that? While I don’t see a super compelling upside to using …

[image] xe3: If you remember I do not unfortunately. Thinking more about it, I see definite reasons for not using Tor with known identities, but not much for VPNs. Maybe the person had confused the two of them. Still, I would like to see if anyone has any arguments as to why to avoid doing th…

[image] anon94009837: Maybe the person had confused the two of them It could definitely be that. Another possibility that is pretty common in tech communities is people can often be more absolutist in their language than they probably intend to be. Non-recommendations and anti-recommendation…

I used to not care about VPNs as I had no reason to use them. Then my IP got leaked in a data breach for a site I used once (one of those forums that requires you to create an account to be able to see anything). The leak included a geolocation that was within a few hundred feet of my house (surpri…

You still should want to hide your browsing activity from your ISP, and I don’t see why you would want to reveal your real IP to these services.

I can only assume it’s to do with other fingerprinting methods — Canvas, WebGL, Javascript, etc — assuming your browser doesn’t have the protections, and reducing the chance of the corporations finding some overlap between your KYC and non-KYC identities/habits.

I have never understood the suggestion to disable your VPN when using services that know your identity. The big problem is that if you disable your VPN to use a particular site, you expose your IP address to everything else currently using your network as well. So, anything using the internet in the…

I use a VPN inside a virtual machine for casual web browsing where I don’t need to prove my legal identity (either because there’s no log in requirement or where the only identifier I need is an e-mail address). I use my raw ISP connection with a different browser on the host for stuff where my lega…

Interesting that your bank discourages using a VPN. My bank had a recent blog article and recommended using a VPN for various reasons.

[image] xe3: a clean and full separation of identities is much more important in that contex :100: :100: [image] How to configure Orbot? Anonymity is a nuanced and deep topic ( see why )

Privacy Guides Community

Using VPN with services that know your identity?

Questions

ignoramous June 5, 2024, 10:33am 11

How did FB know it's me when...?

Topic		Replies	Views
Question on VPN usage across apps and a try for visual guide Questions	3	307	June 28, 2025
Using a VPN everywhere including known identities Questions	22	1232	December 9, 2025
How instagram got it? Questions	7	895	November 29, 2023
Should you use tor browser for sites such as instagram and whatsapp? General	6	1052	November 18, 2023
Privacy Questions and Answers Questions guide	49	2436	April 8, 2024

Privacy Guides

Massive organizations are monitoring your online activities. Privacy Guides is your central privacy and security resource to protect yourself online.

Privacy Guides is a non-profit, socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy.

We do not make money from recommending certain products, and we do not use affiliate links.

Knowledge Base

Private Web Browsers

Top VPN Providers

Privacy-Respecting Services

Software Recommendations

More Resources

Using VPN with services that know your identity?

Related topics